Non-Alzheimer’s Causes Of Memory Loss
If you tend to forget things or get confused, it does not mean that you have dementia. However, several conditions that can be treated have similar symptoms to Alzheimer’s disease and other kinds of dementia.
Dementia Doesn’t Always mean Alzheimer’s
What is dementia? Dementia is a condition related to memory loss or other thinking issues resulting in changes in your brain. Alzheimer’s is just a part of it. Your memory can be affected by other health problems, just like a stroke, the development of liquid on your brain, or Parkinson’s disease. Vheck out some behaviors that increase the risk of dementia.
If you discover the symptoms causing concern, you must go and pay a visit to the doctor or specialist. The doctor will examine you thoroughly and might end up taking your blood samples for testing your brain imaging and neurological testing to find out the deal regarding your health and give you some help.
Some non-Alzheimer conditions are listed below which are responsible for memory loss:
- Depression:
In depression, you cannot remember or focus on a lot of things. For example, you might sleep all the time or not at all; not being able to spend time with people you want to be together with might make you feel depressed, unwanted, and hopeless the majority of the time.
People who have Alzheimer’s disease might make you experience such things. Still, a physical test and a healthy conversation about the signs you are experiencing must assist your doctor in diagnosing correctly.
2. Urinary Tract Infections or UTIs:
Bacteria entering your body through the tube, which helps you urinate, called the urethra, can cause UTI, spreading and affecting your kidneys and bladder.
Especially for elder people, UTIs might be a sudden onset of symptoms which have been like Alzheimer’s. You might get confused over simple things, are sleepy all the time, or can’t pay attention to a single thing. In addition, many people reported hallucinations- which means that they see or hear things that might not be seen or heard by other people.
After the test results, if you come out positive, you will be given antibiotics to clean everything up.
3. Thyroid disease:
A butterfly like-gland, thyroid, is present in front of your neck. It develops the hormones that assist all your organs in functioning properly and have power over how well your body uses food as fuel. The thyroid must normally work, neither too fast nor too slow, as this might later affect your mental state.
When People are not able to make enough thyroid, the condition is known as hypothyroidism. As a result, your body parts work very slowly, Which can affect your thoughts. For example, it might be tough for you to learn new things or look back at an event that just took place.
When people are making many thyroids, the condition is known as hyperthyroidism, which might make focusing a challenge for you. There is a possibility that you might get anxious or depressed. In many cases, you might feel like you are disconnecting from the real world.
You must take medications prescribed by the doctor in either of the situations to keep your hormones at bay. Some people notice the symptoms right away, and some of them don’t. But go to the doctor as soon as you start discovering any signs.
4. Diabetes:
For a diabetes patient, the biggest challenge is to keep the correct balance of insulin and the amount of sugar in their blood. If your sugar level is low, your brain and body will not have sufficient fuel for working. This condition is known as hypoglycemia. If it gets severe, you might be confused about doing the basic tasks, appear drunk, and become clumsy. In some cases, the person even faints.
Frequently people feel better after having a drink or a piece of food that is high in sugar, but if you don’t, try getting medical help. Check out some of the ways to reverse diabetes.
5. Lyme disease:
Some ticks and insects carry hazardous bacteria, which can affect your system just by biting. This results in a condition called Lyme disease. In addition, if the bacteria are present in the blood for a long time, it might affect your short-term memory and nervous system.
Many people reported not being able to keep up with what the other person is saying or not being able to complete the basic task. This condition is called brain fog. People might get symptoms after years or even months after getting bitten by the tick.
Antibiotics can treat Lyme disease, but you still might experience symptoms. So it’ll be better to go to the doctor as soon as you start experiencing those symptoms.
6. Vitamin B12 deficiency:
If you are B12 deficient, you might feel lost. Several people might feel a tingling sensation in their limbs.
Your body requires this vitamin type to develop red blood cells, DNA, and nerves, but vitamin B12 doesn’t do that itself. You have to get it from food. B12 is mostly found in animal products, which means that vegetarian people might not get enough of it.
If People are not getting enough B12 from foods, they might get Crohn’s disease or celiac disease, which will affect the breakdown of the food processor.
It would be best if you went to the doctor to get your vitamin level checked. If you are low on vitamin B12, take the doctor’s prescribed vitamin supplement, it might help you big time.
Conclusion:
These were a few conditions that are a cause of memory loss. Other than these diseases, taking certain drugs, like anti-nausea medicines, steroids, bladder relaxants, and antihistamines, might cause symptoms that might look like dementia. It can be risky for older people. This is because, as you get older, your body loses its energy to fight against the toxic effects of some drugs. Sometimes doctors prescribe you some medicines which you have to take at once, which might cause some side effects.
After the discovery of any of the symptoms mentioned in previous points, visit a doctor right away. Because if you delay your visit to a doctor, the symptoms might intensify and create a problem for you, and also it might be fatal sometimes.
